Being a Big Sister
by PotatoCakes
Summary: A sweet shortie about Phoebe getting used to being a big sister now that Paige is around.


Phoebe watched the rain as it fell into the street. Pit-pat-pit-pat. Water streamed around the wheels of a green BMW bug. I belonged to her younger sister. Paige. Phoebe had just found out she had another sister. Before, she had been the youngest, and she had had two older sisters, Prue and Piper. Prue was dead now. That made Phoebe the middle child now, a role she wasn't used to, or ready for. She had never realized how hard it was to be a big sister. It was fun, yeah, but it was hard, too. How Prue and Piper had done it their whole lives, Phoebe would never know.

She sat there and gazed out the window. Pit-pat-pit-pat. I wonder where Paige orbed off to she thought. She caught herself and tried to think about something else. That happened a lot. She would catch herself worrying about her baby sister, even when she knew she was just down the hall. It was so weird, her being so……protective. It wasn't like Paige couldn't protect herself with her powers, Phoebe reminded herself. But still…

Piper peered around her younger sister's doorway. "Whatcha doing?" she asked. "Three guesses," Phoebe said turning around.

Piper looked into her sister's eyes. "Ah, worrying."

"And what about, Miss know-it-all?"

Piper pretended to be thinking hard. "Paige."

Phoebe looked shocked. "How'd you know?"

Piper walked over to the seat near the window and sat down next to Phoebe. "I've been a big sister for almost all my life. I know the signs and symptoms."

Phoebe smiled sadly. "It's so different from being the little sister."

"Yeah," Piper nodded in agreement, "but you get used to it."

"Do you? I mean how? Does this feeling ever go away?"

"Feeling?"

"That feeling of fear in the pit of your stomach, that something may happen to her. It scares me how different it is. I mean, it would kill me if something happened to you, and it did when Prue died, too, but…"

"It just feels different?"

"Yeah, like if she got hurt, it wouldn't just kill me. It would be ten times worse. I feel like it is my job to protect her, and if something happened, than I failed."

Piper wrapped her arm around Phoebe. "Welcome to the club."

"Really there's a club?" Phoebe asked, putting on a fake naïve face.

Piper laughed. "Of course there is, honey. Now!"

Phoebe laughed too. "Well, I call this 'Big Sister Club' meeting to order. First order of business: where Paige orbed off to."

"Phoebe, she is fine, she will orb back here if she needs us."

"I know that. But she's out by herself, battling some demon, and she didn't even tell us where she was going."

"Seems to me that's a little bit of the pot calling the kettle black. Remember you used to-"

"Hi. We're not talking about me. We're talking about our little sister, Paige. Besides, every demon in existence was not out to get me when I was…you know…rebelling or whatever."

"Phoebe, two words: chill out. She is fine."

"But how do you know?"

"I don't. But I trust her. And, speaking from experience, worrying will get you nowhere."

"I know that. But I can't help it!"

"Soon you'll get used to it. You'll be able to push it to the back of your mind and get on with your life. Which reminds me, I need to get on with mine. I'll be at P3, earning our keep, if you need me. When Paige gets back you can tell her that, too. 'Kay?"

"Okay."

"See ya, worrywart."

"Bye."

Phoebe turned to look out the window again as Piper left the room. She watched the raindrops fall harder, softer, and then harder again. Finally deciding she needed a change of scenery, she walked downstairs to the living room and switched on the television. The news. Not going to relax her any. It would just remind her of the non-supernatural dangers in San Francisco. She changed the channel. Cartoon Network. No good either. TBS. Some weird made for TV movie. Sighing, Phoebe turned off the television and reached for the People Magazine they got each week. She had only reached the second page when bright blue sparkles illuminated the room. She stood up quickly, sending the magazine to the floor.

Leo materialized in front of Phoebe. "Oh," she sighed, "it's only you."

"Nice to see you, too. Have you seen your sister?"

"No, I don't know where Paige went."

"I, uh, I was actually talking about Piper, my wife. Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm good. Sorry about that. Piper's at P3."

"Thanks." Leo shot Phoebe a funny look before orbing out. Phoebe ignored the look and sunk back down into the couch. She bent down and picked up the magazine, flattening out the now crinkled pages. Once again, she flipped to page two, the reader responses. Suzanne Jonas from Oklahoma didn't think Trista and Ryan deserved to be on the cover again. And neither did Michael Fisher, apparently. She flipped the page. She flipped it again. After all, why did she care what the stars were wearing more, plaid or polka dots.

Phoebe glanced out the window. It was starting to get dark. Where was Paige? Phoebe sighed and skipped to the middle of the magazine. Absolutely nothing in it interested her. She flung the already wrinkled magazine onto the couch and went upstairs to the attic. She instantly spotted the map of San Francisco sitting on a table in the center of the room next to several potion bottles. The scrying crystal, however, was nowhere in sight. Exasperated, Phoebe began to search the dim room. She spotted the crystal on a desk near the door. She ran across the room to grab it, but unfortunately, fate was not with her. As she reached the round rug at the center of the room, it slid out from under her and fell to the ground with a loud thud. "Just my luck," Phoebe muttered, "Of course I'm going to fall on my ass."

Phoebe groaned and pushed herself to her feet. She rubbed her behind absent-mindedly as she continued crossing the room to the crystal. She returned to the map, making a point to walk around the rug. She sat down next to the map and held the crystal over the map. The crystal spun around for a few seconds then landed on the manor. "Well that can't be right," Phoebe mumbled.

"Who you scrying for?" asked a familiar voice.

"You," Phoebe said, giving the person a quick glance and then looking back at the map. She did a double take and then rushed at Paige and attacked her with a bear hug. "You're okay!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, of course I'm okay. What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing, I just missed you."

"I've been gone for an hour."

"Yeah, well, I was lonely."

"Right. Could you please let go of me now, or you're going to be lonely a lot more."

"Oh, yes, of course," Phoebe said, releasing Paige. "Bye," she waved as Paige left the attic.

"Freak," Paige muttered.


End file.
